The Wanderers Beginning: The Wanderers, Reborn, & Unforgiven (6 page)

             
“C’mon, I found us some nice little girls to play with.”

             
“I’ll be in in a minute,” I told him, as he turned his attention to the woman who stood before me.

             
“Nah, lad, don’t waste your time. You can’t afford her,” he said pulling me back into the bar. The woman flicked her cigarette at Bobby, smiled, and walked away. “Ah...” Bobby growled, dragging me back inside.

             
We drank all night; drank until Bobby passed out on the bar. I had to practically carry him out of the pub.”

             
“We made it about five feet outside the door before he keeled over and started puking. I took a step back in just enough time to dodge the splatter and putrid smell of his vomit. That’s when I saw her again, the woman from earlier.

             
“She was standing in the shadows, in an alley off the side of the pub. She signaled for me to follow her. I was hesitant at first, but I felt a strange pull to her. Before I could reach her she disappeared into the darkness. ‘Hello?’ I called out, but got no response.”

             
“I squinted and gave my eyes time to adjust to the dark night. I saw her at the other end of the poorly lit alley and started to her.

             
“She turned around and her eyes were glowing. I froze in my tracks. She took a step closer and I saw she was now foaming at the mouth. I was too petrified to move.” Dean paused and looked around at everyone.

             
“She closed the distance between us in one swift movement, exposing her razor sharp teeth, leaning down to sink them into my neck. I shoved her away fast, not wanting to get bitten. I reached for the splinter of wood I spotted sticking out of a trash can. I grabbed it and staked her in the heart. She cringed at the impact and exploded into dust at my feet.”

             
“A vampire? Really Dean?” Josie said interrupting his lame story.

             
“True story… I swear.” The only people who seemed to believe him were Marissa, her clan, and the two girls Dean brought along.

             
“You really expect me to believe you escaped being devoured by a vampire?”

             
“You don’t believe in vampires?” he asked credulously.

             
“No. I have a harder time believing you didn’t piss your pants when she attacked you,” I said doubtful. Xander laughed out loud and Dean narrowed his eyes at him.

             
“Sorry Dean, but Xander’s story was way better,” said Josie.

             
“Well, I had enough of these children’s stories. Come on Jasa, let’s go to bed.” Xander and Jasa said goodnight and headed inside to retreat for the night.

             
“You were so brave to face that vampire,” said one of Dean’s girlfriends. I tried hard not to choke on my hot chocolate.

             
“I believe in vampires,” said the one girl. She stared dreamily off into the night sky. “I leave my window open every night waiting for Robert Pattinson to fly in and bite me.”

             
“You know, he’s not a real vampire. He just plays one in the movies,” I said pretending like I was talking to a five year old.

             
“I know,” she said snidely. “But I’d still like him to bite me.”

             
“Mmm…I’ll bite you.” Dean leaned in and nibbled on her neck. She giggled and playfully pushed him away saying, “stop,” even though she didn’t mean it. You could tell she was the type of girl who played innocent, but was really a slut.

             
God, where does Dean find these girls?

             
“Well, now that the squares went to bed, let’s have some real fun,” Dean said with a devilish smile. He got up, went into his tent, and pulled out a bottle of vodka. Then he started to pour everyone a cup, stopping at me.

             
“What, you think I can’t handle it?” I asked, annoyed.

             
He just smiled and poured some into my hot chocolate. “You are a McCallister. I have no doubt you can handle your liquor.”

             
We were all enjoying our spiked drinks when Dean suggested we go swimming. “It’s freezing,” said one of the girls.

             
“I’ll keep you warm,” Dean cooed and she giggled. Again I had to fight the urge to gag.

             
“Sounds like fun. I’m in,” Marissa said and her followers nodded in unison like little bobble heads. Marissa stood up and put her hand out for Kevin. He reluctantly followed and we all headed down to the lake.

             
“Wait, what about bathing suits?” I asked.

             
“Oh li’l sis, you need to live a little,” Dean said as he stripped down to his boxers. His girlfriends took the cue and stripped down to their bra and underwear.

             
As did everyone else.

             
“You comin’ Ella?” Josie asked while taking off her shirt and pants.

             
“Maybe later,” I said. Josie shrugged her shoulders and joined Kevin’s friends, Trevor and Mark, who were already in the water.

             
“Kevin?” Marissa looked at him wondering while he still had his clothes on.

             
“I’m gonna hang here with Ella for a bit,” he said. Marissa didn’t give it a second thought and jumped in the water gasping, letting us know how cold it was.

             
“You don’t have to do that. Go ahead. Don’t let me stop you from having fun. I’ll be fine,” I said to Kevin.

             
“It’s okay, I don’t mind. Besides, by the looks of it that water is pretty cold,” he laughed while we watched everyone shriek as they got in the freezing water.

             
Kevin began shifting uncomfortably.  “I want to talk to you about last night.”

             
“Talk about what?” I asked, playing dumb. But I had a pretty good idea what he was referring to.

             
“The kiss. You have to know I’m truly sorry about that. I would never…”

             
“Kevin…really, don’t worry about it. It’s ancient history; already forgotten.”             

             
After I made it clear that it was no big deal, he seemed to loosen up a little and offered me a sip from his flask.

             
Marissa waved frantically from the water at Kevin. “You coming in or not?”

             
“I guess I should go in before she throws a hissy fit.” Kevin sighed and started to take off his clothes as Marissa cheered. “You sure you don’t want to come in?”

             
I took another swig of his flask. “What the hell? Why not? You only live once.”

             
Kevin waited for me to strip down to my underwear and then walked down with me to the water. He stuck his foot in and quickly jumped back. “That cold?” I asked, nervously.

             
“C’mon you big babies!” Marissa shouted.

             
“How about on the count of three we just go for it. Jump in and get it over with,” Kevin suggested. I bit my fingers knowing that probably wouldn’t make it any better.

             
Kevin watched me, waiting for my answer. “The count of three?” I raised my eyebrows. 

             
Kevin smiled and took my hand. “One…two…three!”

             
We sprinted into the freezing cold water. The shock of it took my breath away. My entire skin was covered head to toe in goose bumps. Even though my toes were semi-numb, it felt exhilarating. I loved every minute of it. Kevin grabbed me and picked me up, laughing. “You did it.”

             
I looked down into his eyes and for a moment I thought I saw Kyle. Kevin saw the shocked look on my face and asked what was wrong. “Nothing…it’s nothing, sorry.”

             
He put me down and Marissa joined us, putting her arms around his waist. “It’s about time you guys joined us,” Marissa said, pulling Kevin away to a dark spot over by the trees—probably to make out with him.

             
Josie swam over to me bringing Trevor and Mark with her. I noticed Mark was checking me out all night and even more now – probably because I was in my underwear. “Hey,” Mark said.

             
“C’mon Trevor, let’s let these two talk,” Josie smiled while tugging on his arm. I shook my head at Josie. I didn’t want to be left alone with Mark. I wasn’t ready yet, but I knew this was Josie’s way of pushing me to move forward. No matter how many times I argued with her she insisted I needed to at least try. Josie pulled me to the side. “Ella look. I know you think you’re not ready and I get that, but don’t you agree that Kyle would want you to move on?”

             
“Yeah, I guess.”

             
“It’s not like I’m saying jump in the sack with the guy. All I’m suggesting is to have a little fun. No harm in that, right?” Mark was cute and a nice guy, but I still wasn’t sure. I also knew part of me would never really be ready if I didn’t give myself a push to try.

             
Josie gave me a shove in his direction then grabbed Trevor’s hand and started to pull him away. “Where are we going?” Trevor asked.

             
Josie shook her head. “We’re going to find a quieter spot to hang.”

             
“Why can’t we hang here?” Josie looked at Trevor like,
“is this kid really that stupid?”

             
“Cause we're not actually going to be talking,” she said, trying to give him a hint.

             
“Huh? Ooh! Gotcha,” Trevor said finally catching on. He picked her up and carried her to a more private place. “Hey Ella, watch out for those one eyed snakes in the water,” Trevor laughed. Josie dunked him in the water and they wrestled playfully until Josie attacked him with her lips.

             
“You’ll have to excuse my friend. He had too many blows to his head playing football this season.”

             
“What was his excuse before he played football?”

             
Mark laughed. “You’re funny. That’s one of the things I like about you.”

             
“One of the things?” I smiled bashfully.

             
“Yeah, I kinda used to have a crush on you.”

             
“Used too?”

             
“Well, okay, still,” he blushed.

             
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

             
“Cause, you know, you were dating Kyle.”

             
“Oh,” was all I could say remembering how Kyle and I were inseparable. If Mark really did have a crush on me then, I would have never noticed.

             
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up…”

             
“It’s okay, it’s bound to happen,” I said, grazing his arm accidentally. A seductive smile played across his lips and before I knew it he was kissing me. Surprised at his abruptness, I pulled back.

             
“Sorry I just, um,” he said looking down.

             
“It’s okay. You just kind of took me by surprise.” I put my hand on his shoulder bringing his attention back to my eyes and away from my chest. “How about we try this again?”

             
He smiled and slowly this time, brought his lips to mine. The kiss was nice, different. Mark was only the second boy I ever kissed. The first was Kyle. In a way I felt like I was cheating on Kyle, but I knew that wasn’t true. I felt myself pulling away and chastised myself for being silly. I put the past back where it belongs and allowed myself to enjoy the kiss a little more.

             
All too soon the kiss turned aggressive. I guess he thought me kissing him back was an invitation to move further. Mark slid his hand over my butt and squeezed. Then his hand slid up my side and cupped my breast. He pulled me into him pressing himself harder against me, slipping his hand under my bra.

             
Okay, this was more than I wanted. He was getting way to touchy feely.

             
I pushed him away trying to catch my breath. “Okay you need to slow down there,” I said, keeping my hand on his chest.

             
“Sorry, I tend to get carried away sometimes. Why don’t we head back to shore and dry off?”

             
I agreed.

             
We gathered our clothes and made our way back to the fire.